PMS saves the day?

If my cycle can help cure disease, then it'll all be worth it.

(Just when you thought you'd heard it all...)

Cool.

However, it's not clear if this is because I write particularly well, or if it's because you need to have some sort of degree in order to understand my particular brand of crazy...

(*edit: Now that I think about it, it's probably just because I'm excessively wordy. Ah, well...)

Blog crush.

I came home from a stressful meeting this evening and began mindlessly wandering about the internet to unwind. After catching up on my usual reads, I started poking through the links list on Jesse's page, at which point I stumbled onto "Bores and Whores".

Good writing. Funny.
I think I'm in love with her blog.

My blog is hiding under the kitchen table in shame, her tail tucked between her legs.

Go, visit Stefi's stuff. It's good.

Contented sigh...

This holiday weekend was lovely. We slept in, lounged around, cleaned the apartment. It was a much needed break.

On Wednesday I joined a gym, and I have made good use of it thus far. I was a member of the campus recreation center last year, but it's on the other side of town, and I'm only actually on campus two or three days a week. I decided that finding a workout facility closer to my home would be more time efficient. In the past I have always used the elliptical machines for cardio - I've always had a little apprehension when it comes to treadmills. But this week I plucked up the courage and got on one, and it turns out they're wonderful! Half an hour on the treadmill goes faster than fifteen minutes on one of those awkward ellipticals. I always prefer running outside to working out in a gym, but it's been icy and cold (highs in the teens for a few days there), so I needed somewhere I could get some exercise and not freeze my arse off. This is a great solution.

Tonight I had a couple of girlfriends over for pasta and a period film (and red wine and dark chocolate, naturally...). We rented As You Like It, a beautiful adaptation of a Shakespeare play. It was a perfect end to a relaxing weekend.

Tomorrow I dive in to what looks to be a fairly easy end to the semester. I turned most of my bigger projects in before Thanksgiving, so now I've just got to get started studying for finals. Hooray - a light at the end of the tunnel!

Giving thanks.

We had a very lovely Thanksgiving. As has become tradition, Luis made his icebox cake, and I made my grandmother's green bean casserole (with even more fat and calories than regular green bean casserole - but it's amazing!) We met with good friends for a potluck dinner, and had a wonderful time.

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful as well. 0

This post has been edited to correct several turkey induced typos...

Stress eat much?

The label on this bag of semisweet chocolate chips says that it serves twenty-four.

My ass.

Just...a little...farther...

Hurry up, Monday.

Who would have thought that a Monday would offer a ray of sunshine in my otherwise frantic existence? On Monday I will turn in three assignments, have a days' worth of classes and several meetings - and then I will come home and begin a beautiful stretch of days off.

I gave a presentation yesterday, and turned in an ten page case study to accompany it. The presentation was nothing to write home about - and it's mostly because I put off finishing it until the night before. I ended up working on the danged thing until 4:30 in the morning, and then I rolled back out of bed at 7:30 for class.

I am too effing old for this.

This morning I woke up feeling icky and dizzy - almost like a hangover. Seriously, who gets a hangover from homework? It took me almost two hours to shake the feeling, and it was a terrible waste of a half-day off. By the time I felt better, I had to go do a developmental assessment on my friend's five-year-old son for my pediatric class and then come straight to work.

It's strange - no amount of disappointment or self loathing has had any effect on my terrible procrastination habit. I have gotten marginally better, but it still seems that no matter when I start a project, I still find myself working on it clear up to the deadline. When I hand in mediocre work, I'm embarrassed and frustrated with myself. And yet - I continue the bad habit. The strangest part is that once involved in the actual writing of a paper, I enjoy it. Go figure.

So with that, I'm off to do homework. Here's to not being up all night on Sunday...

Open letter

Dear Oil companies,

Please lower your prices.


Thanks,
Mandi, poor college student flying home for Christmas

On weddings.

I bought a wedding gown yesterday. I don't have a caterer, an officiant, a photographer, linens, invitations or musicians; but I've got a dress. And twelve vases with which to make centerpieces.

Perhaps some women have a better knack for this than I do.

I have to admit, though - it's kinda fun. :)

I'm really happy with the gown I chose - it's lovely, without being too "much." (There are some seriously over the top dresses out there.) I got a kick out of trying them on, but the giant poufs really didn't feel like me.
With each gown I put on, the bridal consultant would ask me, "Can you see yourself getting married in this dress?" Each time I thought, "sure, why not?" I used to mentally pick out wedding colors or bridesmaid gowns (after having been a bridesmaid four times, I'm good at that part), but I guess I never thought much about what I'd wear. I've given more thought to being married than getting married, which is probably a good thing. Either way, I've got a dress now, so hopefully there will be no nightmares about being starkers on stage on my wedding day.

The bridal consultant talked me into trying on a veil, and when she tucked it into my hair I was thrown into one of those intensely vivid memories - you know, the kind where you feel exactly like you did way back when. As a little girl, I used to tuck a long curtain sheer into my pink plastic headband and turn it into a beautiful veil. Standing there in the boutique, I could smell that dusty old curtain. I could see my lavender toy chest and my fat black and white cat sprawled in the windowsill above it. I don't plan to wear a veil on my wedding day, but I'm glad I had that moment. I've been going into bridal shops and doing the wedding thing, and often I felt a little out of place. I'm twenty-eight years old, and admittedly, perhaps just a smidge cynical.
But at that moment, standing there in a silly veil, I was a hopeful little girl.

And I'm getting married in nine months.

Weather report:

It's snowing.

Hard.

Where does the time go?

Thanksgiving break begins on Wednesday, November 21st. When we return to school the following Monday, there will be only two weeks of classes left before finals.

The happy news is that all of my major projects for the semester will be finished by Thanksgiving, leaving me plenty of time to study for finals.

The sad news is that I have to finish all of my major projects by Thanksgiving. I have four big assignments that are all coming due at the same time.

Phooey.

I shall now return to my regularly scheduled studying.

Cookies and flu shots and a chance encounter.

Today was a busy, wonderful day.

This morning I lugged twenty pounds of fruit bread and cookies to the university center on campus, where the Montana Student Nurses Association held a bake sale. My fellow students turned up with impressive amounts of wonderful baked goods, and all of the items looked delicious. We sold nearly everything, made some money for our organization, and had a great time talking with people.

I spent the afternoon administering flu shots for the student health center. I've done some injections at the hospital, but doing it over and over again in a short time was a great way to fine tune my technique and improve my dexterity. I don't like causing people discomfort, but I do like knowing that I'm helping them to protect their health. (And several people said I give a pretty good shot, so that's always nice to hear.)

Also, this morning I bumped into Patia, blogger extraordinaire. Lovely in print, even lovelier in person. :) It's odd to "meet" someone you already feel as though you know... I enjoy her writing immensely - if you haven't yet, you should check out her blog.

It is now way past my intended bedtime of "early." Goodnight!

Bake, knit, purl...

I've baked four loaves of apple-orange-nut bread, and I've got two loaves of banana nut in the oven. While they're baking, I sit in my freshly cleaned living room with the classical music channel playing, and I knit.

It's lovely.

There is more school craziness in coming weeks, but for the moment I am enjoying the peace.

Sigh.

Finishing the Missoula Half Marathon

Mandi Finishing the Missoula Half Marathon
Originally uploaded by emillan

I saw this photo in Emilio's photostream today, and it brought back some fond memories.

I ran a half marathon.
Awesome.

Back to homework...